Arizona Geological Survey Looking for Gold and Preventing Landslides

The Arizona Geological Survey has been awarded $170,000 from the U.S. Geological Survey State Map Program to complete an extensive mineral map of two areas in western Arizona, and one area of south eastern Arizona.

At one of the locations in Mohave County, they’re expecting to find one precious mineral according to Michael Conway, with the Geological survey.

“The area up around Oatman is very well known for its gold and mineral resources," Conway said. "And so we’re mapping that in more detail than has been mapped in the past.”

Conway said they are not specifically looking for gold. Their main goal is to study the geology of the state to get a better understanding of the natural resources the land has to offer.

The award will help pin point the mineral makeup of the state. It is also intended to help study potential hazards the minerals of certain locations may be able to predict.

In a separate grant from the Arizona Department of Emergency Management, the survey will also look into potential reasons for landslides in the state.

“We’re pulling together these resources to try to get an inventory out there so we have a better understanding where they happen, why they happen, when they’re likely to happen and what we can do to mitigate them,” Conway said.

The survey will map parts of La Paz, Mohave and Graham County.

So far the state has extensively mapped 8,000 square miles, or about 7 percent of Arizona’s land mass.